Swansea City are second in the Championship having taken fewer shots than thirteen of the clubs below

Swansea City sit second in the Championship, the second tier, on 11 points from six matches, and have taken 12.17 shots a game to get there, 15th of the 24 clubs in the division. Fourteen clubs in the division shoot more often, and thirteen of the fourteen sit below Swansea City in the table. The accuracy is where the difference sits: 29 of the 73 shots have hit the target, 39.73 per cent, a bigger share than any club in the Championship manages, with West Bromwich Albion next on 39.29 per cent. The figures are API-Football's, taken from the 66 fixtures for which the provider has published team statistics this season, rounds one to six, all 24 clubs covered.

Accuracy is not the same as scoring

Hitting the target and beating the goalkeeper are two different skills, and Swansea City are much better at the first. Eight of those 29 shots on target have gone in, 27.59 per cent, which is joint 19th of the 24 clubs, level with Norwich City. The goals have come in concentrated bursts from players who are not on the pitch for long. Jisung Eom has two goals and two assists in 294 minutes across six appearances, three as a starter, and averages 0.61 assists for every 90 minutes played, second in the Championship among the 236 players who have played 270 league minutes or more. Adam Idah has two goals and an assist from 11 shots in 301 minutes, and did not start at Southampton.

One goal in five, then three in a night

The defending is the larger half of the story, and until Tuesday it had barely been tested. Swansea City have faced 12 shots on target all season, 2.00 a game and the fewest of the 24 clubs, with Bristol City next on 2.40. Four of those 12 arrived in one match, at St Mary's, Southampton's ground, where Finn Azaz scored on eight minutes, Cyle Larin on 32 and Leo Scienza on 77, with Zan Vipotnik's penalty on 51 the Swansea City reply, in front of 27,299. Three of the four goals Swansea City have conceded all season came in that match. The other one was in the opening game at Stoke City on 15 August. Four conceded in six is still joint-fewest in the division, level with Queens Park Rangers, who have a match in hand.

What the season figure rests on

Head coach Vitor Matos afterwards: "We have to be honest and say Southampton were the better side, especially in the first half. They were more aggressive than us, they played with more intensity and we were quite passive." And on what has to change: "We need to improve our last decisions in the final third and the consistency of our play to be clinical in all situations." The season numbers underneath that are better than the night was. Swansea City have faced 59 shots in six matches, 9.83 a game, joint second-fewest of the 24 clubs alongside Wrexham and behind Birmingham City on 9.80, and concede 0.94 expected goals a game across the three matches for which API-Football has published that figure, fourth-lowest in the division, though the provider has published expected goals for 39 of the season's 66 fixtures, so every club's figure rests on a different handful of matches. Expected goals is the provider's estimate of what a side's chances were worth. Moussa Yeo has made 14 tackles in 315 minutes, 4.00 for every 90 played, second in the division behind Lincoln City's Benjamin House on 4.40.

Burnley on Saturday

Burnley come to the Swansea.com Stadium at 15:00 on Saturday 12 September, 23rd of the 24 on three points from six, with no win yet and 13 goals conceded, more than any club in the division and the most per game too, at 2.17. Swansea City have played three matches at the Swansea.com Stadium this season, won one and drawn two, and have not conceded a goal in any of the three. The two draws were both goalless, which is the season in one line: the target gets hit, the goal does not.

The limits. Every league rank here comes from the 66 Championship fixtures for which API-Football has published team statistics, rounds one to six. Per-game rates compare across the division; raw totals do not, because twelve clubs have played six matches and twelve have played five. The expected-goals line covers three of Swansea City's six matches. Southampton's own league position is left out, because the points deduction behind it could not be confirmed on a governing-body source. Swansea City's August home matches against CD Leganes and Birmingham City were friendlies and sit outside every figure above.